Pit bull owner charged with murder in fatal mauling

1/9

Ben Devitt holds a photo of his wife Pamela Devitt inside his home in Littlerock. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

2/9

Alex Donald Jackson, who is charged with murder and other counts stemming from the mauling death of a Littlerock woman by a pack of pit bulls, is shown at his arraignment in Lancaster. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

3/9

A cross of flowers still stands at the site where Pamela Devitt was killed by a pack of dogs on May 9 in Littlerock. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

4/9

Jane Hammer, shown with her husband Rally, holds the pistol she carries around her neck when walking near her home. The Hammers live down the road from where Pamela Devitt was killed by a pack of dogs on May 9. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

5/9

Ben Devitt holds a photo of his wife, Pamela Maria Devitt, who was killed by a pack of pit bulls May 9 in Littlerock. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

6/9

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy drives by the spot on Avenue S where a pack of pit bulls fatally mauled 63-year-old Pamela Maria Devitt. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

7/9

Authorities seized six pit bulls and two other dogs from this home on May 9. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

8/9

One of the pit bulls seized by authorities was being kept in an Los Angeles County animal shelter in Lancaster. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

9/9

Neighbors told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that they shot a video of the dogs hopping over the fence at the house where they lived. “If there’s people on horses or elderly people walking, they attack them,” one man, who did not want to be identified, told the station. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

By Richard Winton and Samantha Schaefer

May 30, 2013 11:39 AM PT

A 29-year-old man was charged with murder in connection with a pit bull mauling that killed a 63-year-old Antelope Valley jogger earlier this month.

Alex Jackson, 29, was arrested at his Littlerock home. His bail is set at $1,050,000. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison, a district attorney’s spokeswoman said.

Eight dogs -- six pit bulls and two mixed breeds -- were recovered from his home, sheriff’s officials said. Four of the dogs were believed to be involved in the attack. What appeared to be blood was found on their coats and muzzles.

Pamela Devitt, 63, died on May 9 en route to the hospital as a result of blood loss. Coroner’s officials said they found 150 to 200 puncture wounds and sharp force trauma across her body.

Since January, authorities received at least three other reports of Jackson’s pit bulls attacking other people, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Samantha MacDonald.

Jackson, who allegedly had a marijuana growing operation at his residence, also was charged with cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession for sale of a controlled substance, and assault with a deadly weapon.

The first deputy at the scene of the attack in Littlerock found Devitt on the ground and one dog still mauling the woman. According to Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker, the deputy chased the dog but it turned on him, so he fired a shot toward the dog, which then ran away.

The deputy continued his pursuit, the dog again turned in an aggressive manner, and the deputy fired another shot. The dog eventually fled into the desert off Avenue S.

The death prompted a wide search for a pack of roving pit bulls.

Jackson will be arraigned Friday in Superior Court in the Antelope Valley, said MacDonald and Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert DuFour.

ALSO:

Teen driver in fatal O.C. crash may have been going 100 mph

O.C. to pay $4.4 million settlement in deputy’s slaying of Marine

Disneyland employee linked to second dry-ice explosion, D.A. says